This annoys me unreasonably, because they use Quebec for 'Q', but the correct pronunciation of Quebec is KEH-bek. It's as dumb as pronouncing Lyon as 'LIE-un' instead of 'lee-OHN'.

OK Goodnight - Spiral

You absolutely can not use it to quantify impurities. All you can really do is say whether it starts and finished melting in a range that's consistent with the claimed substance. It's a starting point, and that's all. But if you're melting fairly far out of range - like 3C or more - and you know that your equipment is correctly calibrated, then you know that there's some kind of significant issue.

For illicit drugs, there are a few services in the EU that I'm aware of that will run a form of quantitative testing, HPLC and mass spectrometry. IIRC - I know nothing about analytical chemistry - they need a pure sample to compare against; they can't just run their tests and then search a giant database and tell you what you have. But if you have a few kilos of MDMA, and you're worried about it being contaminated with fentanil, it's definitely worth the couple hundred dollars it costs.

I've considered flying, since I work at an airport, and have enough land (I'm very, very, very rural) that I could land a bush plane out front. But the cost of the airplane, aviation gas, and scheduled maintenance would be pretty steep, and I'd only save 30 minutes or so each way. (Plus, av gas is leaded (!!!).) I do drive a Prius, and will likely get an EV once I run the Prius into the ground in 3-4 years.

Part of the problem I have is that electricity is very expensive in my area - still cheaper than gas right now tho - and my electric utility is making putting in a 20kW solar array a goddamn nightmare. They want to double the cost by forcing me to upgrade a quarter of a mile of primary service line.

I have an actual melting point apparatus, Thermo Scientific, IIRC. You need to use capillary tubes for your samples (very, very small amounts). You also need to check the calibration occasionally against known substances. I do recall something testing very far out of range - like 20C or something - because the sample wasn't properly dehydrated first. I don't recall if I ever got around to doing that and re-testing or not.

Point is, this isn't really a very accurate way of checking your melting point.

And MP alone doesn't give you a ton of information. Lots of things can melt in the same range.

Melting point is a range, not a single temperatures. Very small amounts of fentanyl aren't going to change that range enough to really register. You would need to use another test, probably a chemical reagent, to check for fentanyl. Or send your drugs out to be tested by high-pressure liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.

You solve the salt problem by buying unsalted.

Huh. What's the secret?

The first beer I had was a very, very good homebrew. Going from that to a commercial IPA was very disappointing.

My daily commute is 220 miles (110 each way).

Blowjobs are just kind of okay. I agree on the fact that they're often/always bite-y if they're trying to get more than a third into their mouth. I've had exactly two orgasms from blowjobs in 30-odd years of experience. I got very, very close a third time.

On the other hand, tying your partner up and face-fucking them while they choke and gag is pretty goddamn amazing, even with teeth. (Yeah, I'm a little sadistic; thankfully my partners after my ex-wife, including current, have been at least a little masochistic.) Pro-tip: quit before they vomit, both because that's unpleasant, and also because they usually want to stop after that point. I haven't orgasmed that way, but oh my god, so worth it.

So, uh, how's it going with your former boss then?

I quit my last job because I decided to move from the south to the extreme northern end of New England. Now I've got a stupidly long commute ever day, but I also have a 70 acre homestead that's 15 miles from the nearest flyspeck town or gas station.